Thursday, 27 June 2013

Niamh Boyce's first novel The Herbalist, was the winner of the inaugural Novel Fair at the Irish Writers Centre in 2012. Since then she has been working very hard on whipping it into shape with her publisher, Penguin Ireland. I was lucky enough to get a review copy and my nose was stuck in it for a long weekend recently. Set in 1930's Ireland, it is packed full of great characters and fascinating stories. Do yourself a favour and get a copy to see what all the fuss is about. Here's an interview on some of the burning questions I had on the book's journey to publication.

Welcome Niamh, to emergingwriter. Congratulations on your novel. You have 4 women narrators who are quite distinctive. I am particularly fond of
Emily. How did you keep their individual voices and attitudes?
The women were
so different in circumstance, age and attitude that their voices felt very
distinct from early on in the process. I wrote them exaclty as I heard them –
but did vary the point of view. Emily, who was a real chatterbox, narrates from
the first person; which is the most intimate. And Carmel and Sarah were written
from the third person. It was no effort really to keep their voices distinct-
they're at such very different stages in their lives and have very different
attitudes towards life, love and the Herbalist.

The women in your novel are to a
certain extent, defined by their clothes. How would you recommend any emerging
writers consider this for their own characters?
It depends on the character
really. Many might not notice clothes at all. For someone like Emily however,
with her love of Hollywood glamour and silks, satins and furs - clothes become
very important. They symbolise the kind of woman she wishes to be.
Clothes
can be very evocative, a child's shoe can evoke loss, a leather belt can evoke
terror. When I facilitate writing workshops, I often use small items to help
writers to create with characters. Lipstick has worked very well in the past,
often bringing up stories of betrayal, murder and lust, as well as some touching
personal memories. A hat can represent a part of someone’s personality they
usually keep hidden, there are endless ways to work with characterisation
through clothes, it’s a very rich area, and very enjoyable.

Your
novel won the novel fair in 2012. What did your agent and publisher recommend
you change between then and the final draft?
My novel fair entry was a
condensed version of my original manuscript, so the first thing I did was work
back in those scenes I had cut for clarity in the fever coming up to the novel
fair! The next stage was working with a calendar, an excellent recommendation
from my publisher. I printed out a calendar from the year of the novel, one for
each character. That way I knew where everyone was on any given day. It was very
helpful; I’d recommend it to anyone writing a novel.

Niamh blogs here and you can see the Amazon link for The Herbalist here, or better still, buya copy in your local independent book shop.

Wednesday, 26 June 2013

Grace, Mark, Dave and Mia, four leading writers from Ireland's
contemporary literary scene, will come to Clonmel for 24 hours. During
their stay in town, they will share their skills and experience with
emerging writers and poetry enthusiasts, perform their work at set
readings, and walk and explore the streets of Clonmel with workshop
participants, giving insights into how a writer goes about their work,
and develops their skills of observation and composition.

With workshop sessions taking place in locations throughout the town
and over the 24 hours, the participants will see the urban landscape as
it changes colour from busy shopping streets through the hubbub of
Saturday night and into the quiet of Sunday morning.

On Sunday afternoon there will be an open-mic session at which the
participants will have the opportunity to share some of the work they
created during the Twenty-four little hours.

To be part of 24 Little Hours you can fill out our application form here.

Tuesday, 25 June 2013

The program for the inaugural Hay festival at Kells is packed but not many appeal to me personally. I've always wanted to go to the festival in Hay-on-Wye so I'm a bit disappointed, to be honest.

Here are some that look worth catching

Friday 28th June
EIRGRID STAGE
€4
Owen Sheers
Pink Mist – Reading followed by Q&A
A reading from this verse drama originally broadcast over a week on Radio 4. Three school friends return from Afghanistan to face the consequences of their tours, for them and the women in their lives. Drawn from interviews with wounded veterans, Pink Mist is a lyric narrative of rare dramatic and emotional intensity.
Q&A chaired by Peter Stanford.

8.30PM
EIRGRID STAGE
€8
Jeanette Winterson
The Biggest Book Club In Ireland
The author of Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, The Daylight Gate and The Passion introduces her fabulous memoir Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal.

Saturday 29th June
9PM
THE RAILWAY BAR
FREE BUT TICKETED
Poetry At The Railway Bar
An evening of poetry and entertainment featuring Gerry Stembridge, Myles Dungan, Nerys Williams and Sean Rocks, presenter of Arena on RTÉ Radio 1, with music from Maidhc Dainín Ó Sé

Sunday 30th June
12.30PM
BRESLIN STAGE
€5
Karlin Lillington, John Maher and John Kampfner
Blog And Be Damned: Social Media And Libel In Ireland
What constitutes fair comment, as opposed to defamation, on social media and should the standard be the same as for traditional media?
Is the freedom inherent in social media threatened by the chilling effect of potential claims for libel?
To what extent should tweeters and bloggers be as aware of the dangers of libel as are professional journalists?
Karlin Lillington of The Irish Times, barrister John Maher, and Google’s John Kampfner discuss with Myles Dungan

2PM
EIRGRID STAGE
€6
DBC Pierre
The Booker Prize-winning author makes a rare public appearance to discuss his life and work with Sean Rocks, presenter of Arena on RTÉ Radio 1

and yer man from the Great British Bakeoff (a secret pleasure of mine)
3.30PM
EIRGRID STAGE
€5
Brendan Lynch
Kells native Brendan, a finalist in 2012’s Great British Bake Off, has been passionate about baking for 30 years. Join him as he demonstrates some of the skills that took him to the final and talks to Fáilte Ireland Food Champion Olivia Duff about his plans to take baking into retirement homes.

5PM
EIRGRID STAGE
€6
John Boyne
This House Is Haunted
The author of The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas and The Absolutist introduces his new novel. Eliza Caine arrives in Norfolk to take up her position as governess at Gaudlin Hall on a dark and chilling night... He talks to Sean Rocks, presenter of Arena on RTÉ Radio 1.

Wednesday, 19 June 2013

The iYeats Poetry
Competition, now in its fifth year has become one of the most highly-regarded in
the country, attracting hundreds of entries from across Ireland and abroad. An
online, national and international competition, there are 2 categories;

General

Emerging Talent for poets between the ages of 16 and 25.

Judges: Katie Donovan and James Harpur

2013
PRIZES

First Prize €500 Emerging Prize
€300 Commended X2
€50

All winning poets will
have their entries published on the Hawk’s Well Theatre Website and will be
offered the chance to read their work at Aloud an intimate evening of original
poetry from our eminent past judges and the 2013 winners. This ceremony will
take place during the 2013 Yeats International Summer
School.

Monday, 17 June 2013

The
Embassy of Japan is pleased to inform you of the Fourth Japan-EU English Haiku
Contest, organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
and the Delegation of the European Union to Japan, and sponsored by Matsuyama
City, Ehime Prefecture, Japan and the Flemish Haiku Centre, Belgium.

523
haiku poets submitted entries on the theme "Dawn" for last year's
third contest. For this year's contest, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
and the EU Delegation to Japan are pleased to call on contestants to share their
haiku related to the theme of “Rainbow”.

The
organisers have set up a Fan Page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/haikucontest) and selected haiku will be
uploaded. The aim of the contest is to deepen the relationship between Japan and
the EU and encourage people to enjoy both writing and reading English haiku.

The
deadline for applications is Thursday, 1 August 2013
(2.00am, Brussels time).

The
contest is open to the nationals of EU member states (including Croatia) and
Japan who are currently residing in the EU (including Croatia) or Japan. It is
open to all ages.

One
winner each from Japan and the EU will be announced in due course. The Ministry
of Foreign Affairs will offer the winner from the EU a round-trip to Matsuyama
City, the birthplace of modern haiku in Japan. The EU Delegation to Japan will
invite the winner from Japan to Belgium, the home country of European Council
President H.E. Mr. Herman Van Rompuy who loves haiku and is an
active haikuist himself. The contest winners will be notified by e-mail
and given further details of the round-trip prize. Please note that related
expenses covered by the organisers have certain limitations.

Saturday, 15 June 2013

The 2013 Cork International Short Story Festival will take place 18 - 22 September.

The programme for the Cork International Short Story Festival
is complete except for firm responses from a couple of invited writers. We can
confirm the participation of Alastair MacLeod, Edith
Pearlman, Patrick McCabe, Etgar
Keret, Deborah Levy, Julia O'Faolain

There will be a special focus this year on anthologies and on the graphic short
story.

There will be readings by many debut authors, book launches, discussions,
interviews and workshops galore.

Workshops will be offered on the short story
for beginners, a masterclass for published authors, a workshop in crime writing,
on flash fiction, on songwriting by John Spillane, John
Minihan - Samuel Beckett's favourite photographer will be offering a
workshop on photography. An interesting development this year is a workshop on
the Horror/Fantasy literary short story offered by Alannah
Hopkin Full details as they will become available will be posted on www.corkshortstory.net

Tuesday, 11 June 2013

Penguin Ireland in
partnership with the RTE Guide magazine have announced their annual
short story competition.

Rules: All entries for the 2013 RTE Guide/Penguin Ireland
Short Story Competition should be original, unpublished and previously
not broadcast short stories in English of 2,000 words or less.
Entrants’ name and
contact details (address, phone and/or email) should be on a separate
page.

Monday, 10 June 2013

If you are in or near the IFSC tomorrow, Tuesday, make sure and go to the 4th Dockland's Book Sale

It is a brilliant event. Thousands of books
will be sold for just EUR 1 each and all proceeds from the sale will be
distributed to partnering agencies who provide critical services for
older people living in the Docklands area.

You can help
by donating unwanted books, by helping out or by buying books. I bought too many last year and could hardly carry them!

Sunday, 9 June 2013

I am excited to be guest editing the September edition of Boyne Berries, a Meath based magazine that has been running for a few years now. They publish poetry and short prose. Read the rules here and adhere to them like superglue. Line count, word count, format, brief bio.

Send in early, please. I don't want to read them all in one go. It's anonymous so no favoritism! Bribes though are willingly accepted and will do no good at all at all, so they won't. Do me a favour though and if you think I will recognise your pieces for whatever reason, choose something else so I don't have a moral dilemma!

No payment, only glory. But what glory!
Come to the launch in Trim and read your piece.

Friday, 7 June 2013

Peace Camp was a series of installations that took place last summer in some of the most
beautiful coastal locations around the UK including the
North Antrim coast and Mussenden Temple in Coleraine.

Glowing lights,
designed to be visited at dusk and dawn, were accompanied by the nation's
favourite love poems, read out loud by a wide range of people from across
the country.

They asked for contributions to their website and created an online anthology of love poetry. The
British Library are archiving the website, including all contributions,
for posterity. It inspired hundreds of poems and photographic images. Tens of
thousands of people visited the project website; to view and
share images from the live event around the country, to read and listen
to poems and contributions, and nominate poems for the anthology.

The project was inspired by the Olympic Truce and organised by the Artichoke Trust.

I am delighted that my poem, Let's Go Driving, is to be included and is one of only twelve to be on display at the Poetry Cafe in London along with some amazing photos.

Thursday, 6 June 2013

Scripts,Ireland’s
newest playwriting festival is dedicated to new Irish plays - the
writing of them, the development and nurturing of them.

Playwright's can submit original 15 Minute plays on the theme
Home
for selection. Those selected will benefit from a professional
development process where they will be mentored by professional
playwright
Eugene O' Brienin an exciting workshopping process.

For 7 days in September the picturesque heritage town of Birr, Co. Offaly, a haven of Georgian elegance, will play
host to an ensemble of playwrights, producers, actors and directors, all working towards
one goal - to produce 7 outstanding new Irish plays in 7 fun-filled days!

Submissions are now being sought for:-10 – 15 minute plays on the theme,
Home-10 – 15 minute Radio Play, on the theme
Home-OR, you can register to be part of a “Pop Up” Play in a Day Challenge

Saturday, 1 June 2013

I spent a happy week volunteering at Dublin Writers Festival. I met lots of lovely people. Readers are such nice people, ready to chat and talk about books. Very patient queuers too, which was useful. Some queues I saw were way long.

First on Tuesday I went to the Jon Ronson event in the lovely theatre in Liberty Hall. The place was packed and the balcony was full too. Jon talked about investigative comedy. He tackles serious issues under the cover of comedy and talked about some of the situations he found himself in. Check out some of his clips on YouTube for a flavour and buy his newest book, Lost At Sea, which takes him from the Klu Klux Klan to LA drug barons to psychics. I have a theory that because he is a small, unassuming man in appearance, he can get away with a lot more than bigger guys as he does not come over as threatening.He was massively generous and patient with the huge queue to sign his books, talking to everyone who all came away with a big smile.

Thursday I went to Caitlin Moran, a hero of mine, hard core feminist and funny and irreverent, she says out loud many things I've thought for years, some of which I've never said out loud. The National Concert Hall was sold out, which with the chorus seats also open, is about 1,300 people, some of them were men too! Again, massively generous with her time at the signings and there must be loads of photos of her posing with her fans now, young and old.

Friday I went to see the Scottish poet Robin Robertson who was wonderfully dry and clever at Smock Alley, introduced by Paul Perry. I missed hearing Frank McGuinness but the reaction to his reading was very positive. I bought Robin Robertson's newest collection, The Wrecking Light, at the Gutterbookshop after. Check out his poem called A&E about going to hospital post heart surgery. Gruesom. I loe his sea poems too, the language is wonderful.

Saturday I went to an event in the Chester Beatty Library (love that building) talking about reading and sharing the reading experience with Christina Dwyer Hickey, Naomi Alderman and a very engaged audience.

After that Anthony Cronin's epic poem Titanic, first published more than fifty years ago, with musical colaboration by the traditional musician Donal Lunny. The music made the hair on your arms stand to attention. Great response from the audience at the United Reform Church.

On Sunday I had an early start at the GutterBookShop who had unfortunately started the day with a breakin and a visit from the guards. So I took some story books outside in the sunshine and read to the small group of children who came to storytime. We all enjoyed it immensely. One book we read was Where the Wild Things Are and I had kids roaring their terrible roars and rolling their terrible eyes fit to burst. I'd happily do it again and so would some of the other volunteers I talked to. So let's do that again!

Then hotfoot up to the Dublin Writers Centre to catch a chat with the indefatigable Programming Director Liam Browne talking to Thomas Keneally about one of his favourite books, Voss by Australian Laureate Patrick White.

Lastly a children's event in the Ark with writer Sally Gardner. A lovely lady but I felt she did not engage at all well with the children or their parents. Not every writer is a good speaker.

There were lots of events that I would like to have seen, Brownbreadmixtapes and others at the festival club, Rebecca Solnit, Tracey Thorne, The Faber Social and the Dennis O'Driscoll event at The Gate in particular.